I just bought a Kindle Fire HD for myself and was offered Prime at a discount for $59 for the first year. It was worth it to me because we don't have cable or satellite TV. I used Playon to get Amazon Prime to my TV. I will also have it available on my Kindle of course. Now I can watch a lot of shows and movies I couldn't before. I also really like the free 2nd day shipping as I purchase a lot from Amazon. With Prime, I was also able to add my husband's account to access free 2nd day shipping at no extra cost. Prime allows you to add up to 4 household members to utilize the 2nd day shipping option free.

I have a Kindle Touch and wanted to see if I should upgrade to a Paperwhite, so I did a lot of research. There are a lot of negative reviews (as someone else stated) basically because all the bugs have not been worked out. I love my Kindle Touch and the only reason I was thinking of upgrading was so I didn't have to use a booklight at night. However, with the negative issues and price, I'll stick with my KT. I've had absolutely no issues with it and it's wonderful to use. My mom sent me some money for Christmas, and I did, however, buy a Kindle Fire HD 7 for myself. Amazon has some great educational apps I can use with hsing: Greek mythology cards, art history, geography, US states and capitals, etc... I put it away until Christmas, but I can't wait to use it in the classroom with dd! The one thing I bought for it for myself is the Avengers movie in HD -- I'll be watching that on Christmas!

Well, let's see....we started our school year in late August. I chose the Illuminations curriculum w/MOH 1 through Bright Ideas Press (dd is in 4th). Great program, but way too much. We were doing: Bible, MOH1, English From the Roots Up, Science, Grammar, Spelling, Writing, Reading: Alone & Aloud, Humanities, Geography, Art, Music, PE, To-Shin-Do, Typing, Spanish. Whew... Needless to say, we were spending all day schooling, from 8:30 - 4 PM. DD was unhappy and I was frustrated and unhappy. Many tears and lots of homework to get everything done. Now this isn't the curriculum's fault. It states that you don't have to do everything. Unfortunately, I'm wired that if I pay for it, I should use it. After a lot of praying and soul searching. I realized I was making myself and dd a prisoner of the curriculum. What a freeing revelation it was to realize I could choose to do what we wanted and not have to do everything. I mean that's what hsing is all about isn't it? So, we cut the following: humanities (dd gets plenty of this during music, art, history and reading); geography (the program that came with Illuminations was very boring and dry. I now incorporate more maps and geography discussions with our history); and EFRU (we both hated this book - BORING! I have purchased Latina Christiana for dd's Latin next year at her request and figure we'll get all the Latin roots we need from that). I cut Science down to 2 days a week: Tuesday's and Thursdays (Solar System and Earth Science) Bible is reserved for the evening after dinner, together as a family with discussion. Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, & Fridays are reserved for core classes: Grammar/Writing (alternate days), Spelling, Math, History, Bible, Reading, & Science on Thurs. To-Shin Do is on Wed. evenings (dd would never give this up, and we wouldn't want her to). Tuesdays are reserved as more fun days: PE & Music (an hour at local PS), Typing, Spanish, Art, Science, & Home Ec (added in since we now have time-usually sewing or cooking) Now we are a happy family and enjoying our year - FINALLY! Our day usually ends anywhere from 1:30 - 2:30. It has taken me five years to relax and realize I don't need to cram everything in. Maybe next year I'll be able to remember this and not repeat the same old obsessive cycle. One can only hope.

If this was me, I would immediately treat everyone in the family with lice shampoo. My older dd brought this home to us without warning when she was in elementary school. I noticed them in her hair when I was trying to put it up! Imagine my shock. Then I found out it was all through the school. I treated her and went to work. Imagine my surprise when I went into the bathroom at work and found the eggs in my hair too! I was horrified. I immediately went home treated myself and notified my dh (now ex-but not because of that). We had to bag up all her stuffed animals for 3 weeks, wash everything, and I think we may have gotten rid of her mattress and bagged up ours. It was very stressful. So, save yourself some mental anguish and treat everyone in the family now. That would be my advice.

Yep! we have 50 acres. I used to have 5 horses, but when my dh lost his job in 2009, I sold all but 2. One has since died. However, what saved us during that time (2 years) was our garden. We produce a lot of our own veggies and freeze them. I didn't have to buy veggies in the store unless it was lettuce or tomatoes. (I don't can). We also butcher our own pigs, and own chickens for eggs. Dh got his job back in 2011, but I didn't want to risk getting more horses (vet bills are expensive) in case the job disappeared again. Now we have 2, 40X60 garden plots, a greenhouse, apple, pear, cherry and plum trees, raspberry, blackberry, and blueberry bushes, strawberries, asparagus, grape and kiwi vines. We made our own grape jelly this year as we had a bumper crop. The fruit trees are just starting to produce a little fruit because they are still young. We slaughtered our pig just last month and still have some pork left from last year. We have two freezers; one chest and one upright, filled to the brim with home-grown produce. By the way, anyone need some eggs? We have 4 dozen sitting in the fridge....lol...time to do some more baking.

My dh never tolerated disrespect from our dc at all. If they started, he was correcting them immediately. They were told in no uncertain terms that that behavior is unacceptable and they were immediately punished. And yes, when younger they got spanked a couple of times on the rear only (spare the rod, spoil the child) and only for the most grievous offenses. Before spanking, my dh would tell them that he loved them and it hurt him to have to punish this way, but that they needed to learn the consequences of their actions. They would lay across his legs and get 3 swats on the rear. Most of the time they didn't cry, but they would then apologize. I didn't hs my older, but with my younger, as she has gotten older, privileges are taken away for a period of time (whatever is her favorite thing to do) or I would employ writing "I will not be disrespectful to my parents or elders" 50 times, and double it for each occurrence. If this happens during school, then all academics were put away until the writing was done. Then we would continue with school. This extends the school day which is not a positive for her. Thankfully, she has only had to do this once (she hated it and got the point). It's actually kinda funny this topic came up (for me) because just yesterday, DD2 was starting to give us grief about asking her to do something which she procrastinated over right before starting our family Bible time. We were scheduled to read Proverb 13. DD2 stopped us at the very first verse and said, "Wow, that's really appropriate!" and laughed. Then she told us it had been a very long time since she had been spanked...several years. We told her it's because she's older and doesn't really give us a serious reason to do so. She laughed and said because of her age, she's sure she'll slip up some more and deserve what she gets. She just turned 10!

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:iagree: TOTALLY!

As a Christian, I believe it's true. I don't think it really matters whether you're a young earth creationist or old earth. (I haven't made up my mind about this issue yet. Lot's of research has shown me that both sides have very good, plausible arguments with scientific data to back up both.) However, I am constantly careful to try not to impress my dd with just my beliefs. I feel it's vitally important for the strength of her faith to come to conclusions on her own. For that very reason, I have taught her both Evolution and Creationism. We have discussed evidences for both a young earth and an old earth. And on we will go. By the way, a little off topic, but a really excellent video about the creation of our universe is "Journey Toward Creation" narrated by Dr. Hugh Ross, PhD. He is an old-earth creationist. This video taught me that scientists agree that there are 200 criteria which must be met in order for life to occur. The chances of those 200 criteria to occur by random chance is 10 to the 215th power -- that's 10 with 215 zeros behind it! In other words - virtually impossible! And yet, Evolution is still taught as fact in our public school systems.

Yep, we watched this again too. Monday through Wednesday we did Thanksgiving studies a little differently this year. My dd was getting tired of the same old, same old Pilgrim story. So, this year I researched the history timeline from the Pilgrims until Thanks giving was declared a national holiday. First, we watched this video: https://www.youtube....T_LkY After watching that, we composed the following timeline: 1621 - Pilgrims have the first harvest, "Thanksgiving" celebration in Plymouth, MA. 12/18/1777 - Gen. Washington held a national day of Thanksgiving to celebrate the defeat of the British at Saratoga, NY. 1863 - Sara Josepha Hale (first female editor) wrote a letter to Lincoln suggesting a national day of Thanksgiving. 10/3/1863 - Lincoln issued a proclamation declaring the last Thursday of November to be Thanksgiving Day (never ratified by Congress). 1924 - 1st. Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade 1920's - The Detroit Lions held the 1st. Thanksgiving Day football game 1941 - Thanksgiving Day is made a legal, national holiday and moved from the last Thursday to the 4th Thursday to provide more time for shopping before Christmas. (President Roosevelt) We also watched a couple videos on YouTube showing the method of processing turkeys for market (nothing gross - turkeys already dead and plucked). It was quite interesting. We also watched a "Dirty Jobs" on Netflix about artificially inseminating Turkeys. To round out our studies, dd had a reading comprehension project, Thanksgiving themed fraction page (which was actually quite good and involved some thought!) and various crosswords, word searches and coloring pages. It was refreshing to do something different and she quite enjoyed it.

I also know exactly what you mean. I had a falling out with my oldest dd. She's in college and doing the "college thing" and got hurt. I had constantly warned her about her behavior and the repercussions of such, but she got extremely nasty to the point where threats against us were made. I was advised to call the state police. Finally it all came to a head and she did get hurt. When she called to tell me, I was totally sympathetic, but when she tried to shift the blame, I told her she had to take personal responsibility for what had happened as well. That did it. She went totally postal on me, and we didn't speak for a year. It was a painful year, but I had to stand my ground and not give her the comfort of blaming someone else for her actions which caused the problem. After a year, she began calling again for little things. Then one day she called, crying, wanting to know why I couldn't side with her. I calmly explained why. She still doesn't accept personal responsibility, but at least she has accepted the fact that I have my personal convictions (Biblical) that I won't compromise even for her. She now respects that, thankfully, and understands why I can't agree with her. We now talk semi-regularly on the phone. The sad part of all this was we started counseling her in her teens about certain behavior, how it would be perceived, how it could lead to dangerous situations, and the devastating harm those actions could cause. Unfortunately she did everything we advised her not to do. In today's society, nothing is off limits and there is no such thing as personal responsibility. Just hang in there. Eventually, she will come around. It may take a while (a year or more even), but she will return. It's important right now to give space and let healing begin. You did the right thing inviting her to Thanksgiving and let her decline graciously. Keep all your conversations kind and heartfelt, but remain firm in your convictions. Hopefully, she will come to understand that you have your own opinions and way of doing things which may not agree with hers, but still be right for you. Best wishes and Happy Thanksgiving!

I LOVE WonderMaps! IMO, it's definitely worth the price, especially if you can get the 20% Black Friday discount.

Actually, I have looked into this. It is a very valid concern. I encourage everyone to look into this issue to become educated in it. Homeschooling could be in danger if we come under the thumb of the UN who wants everything the same and streamlined for every child in every nation -- this includes education. I'm not saying HSLDA isn't looking for money, but that this is a real issue to be watchful of. It never hurts to be aware because if we're not, that's when legislation sneaks up and bites you in the ......

You can log onto http://www.studystack.com and build your own online flash cards. My dd and I are doing MOH 1 Ancient Civilizations. They recommend making 3 memory cards for each lesson. Instead of doing that, I do the memory cards on studystack. Then I have my dd log on and review the stack. She can play hangman, wordsearch, matching game; there are 14 games in all. DD loves this! It continues to build with each lesson, and she tells me she is actually remembering and having fun. She has now asked me to create a stack for Science! You can even put maps on there! Wonderful tool. I hope this helps.

Nope.

My DD loved the Little Bear series.

We pseudo-homestead now, and I would not want that anywhere near us.

30-40 minutes. My dd is whipping right through Horizon's Grade 4. It wasn't always so. A couple of years ago, math was a painful process which took over an hour! Thankfully, I have a certified teacher evaluate our work each year and I finally asked her about our difficulties in getting through math. She gave us the most wonderful advice for which I am continually thankful. First of all, she loves Horizon Math, praises it highly and told me not to switch until I have to. Secondly, she told me that if my dd absolutely knows the concept in the exercises, it was perfectly fine to do only a portion of the exercises assigned. So, now if the 4-digit addition section has 10 problems, I only have dd do 5 and so forth. If she makes a mistake, I make her go back and do the rest she didn't do the first time (hardly ever happens -- incentive). However, if a section is teaching a new concept, I go over that concept with her, do a problem or two with her, and then have her do all the problems. Now, dd and I go over her math pages together, mark about half the exercises as long as she knows the concepts and move on. This has saved us about 1/2 hour a day and dd is thrilled. Math is no longer a headache for me or a crying session for dd. She actually LIKES math now!

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First of all, I'm very conservative and a Christian. That being said, my dd learned ALL about reproduction and birth last year during our study of the human body in 3rd grade. She was asking questions and it was a perfect time to address them. I believe in telling her the truth. We watched videos and discussed everything. I think it's okay to show factual videos in school, but I also think it would be appropriate to notify the parents of what was going to be shown beforehand so parents could "opt out" if they so choose. The teacher using herself as a model....nope...I don't think that's appropriate at all. This could really be uncomfortable for some kids. This is just my opinion though.

My mom sends me Christmas money every year. For the last two years, I've been spending it on hs curriculum that feel I need to give dd a great education, but that I couldn't afford on my own. When you're talking about just one class costing about $150 for the bare bones - no supplements, costs add up quickly. That Christmas money is how we get by.

I always make homemade cornbread with my chili.

I've had dogs since I can remember; mostly extra-large breeds. Your GSD will be your best friend and most loyal companion as long as you train him right and you have his respect. We just adopted a 7 month-old GSD/Choc Lab mix. He's all GSD with the lab feet and coloring (beautiful dog) and BIG! This guy was WILD when we got him. He's now 9 months. Our 9 YO dd is used to big dogs, so that wasn't a problem. She immediately started lowering her voice and commanding him when he got too rough. We use one command so as not to confuse him "OFF". When any of us say this it means get off of whatever you are biting or on! He now sits nicely and waits for us to put his food down and waits for the command to eat. He has gotten immeasurably better with company. Still jumps up a little in excitement, but one look from one of us and he settles down. We got a special collar for him to take walks. Yes, it's the one with the teeth. No, it's not cruel. The collar does nothing as long as he doesn't pull. When he pulls, he feels pressure (the teeth are blunt on the ends). Otherwise he would tear my arm from it's socket. He knows sit, stay and lay. The first thing you must understand is that your kids need to be alpha over him. This can be done as others suggest. First teach him to sit for his food. Once he has this down. Have your kids take turns feeding him, making him sit for his food. Teach him the "OFF" command. Contrary to popular belief, yes, you can strike your dog. Believe me, it hurts your hand more than them, but it tells them you are alpha and gets their attention. Another option is to grab him by the scruff of the neck and force him down into a laying position. This establishes your dominance. If your dog was in a pack situation, he would get more than thumped by the alpha male - he would get bitten. If you don't like hitting, you could also grab him around the muzzle and squeeze. This is universal dog for I AM BOSS! Teach this to your kids and tell them to say firmly and deeply -- "OFF" if he starts to mouth them. Just grab the upper part of his snout if that's all that's possible. Your kids need to be the boss - no wimps. Next - exercise is CRUCIAL! If walks are out of the question, hopefully you have a fenced yard. Have your kids (once they have the OFF command down) take him out and play fetch whatever (stick, ball - ours even plays with large gourds). Our dd takes our guy out back and plays with him for hours. Now she has taught him to play hide and seek! He will sit and stay while she hides, then call for him from her hiding place. It's great! You can do this; just be firm and consistent. If you need help, consult a professional or get a good training book. Above all remember - you and your family are the boss! It is crucial he learns this while he is young and manageable.